Commentary: Avoiding 'them' and 'us'

By Charlie Rutz

Friday

Aug 3, 2018 at 3:01 AM

As Wellfleet considers enacting a residential tax exemption (RTE), they may want to read “Part-timers Lament No-vote Policies,” Edward Miller’s piece in the July 27 issue of The Cape Codder about the impact of RTE in Provincetown and Truro.

The article talked about the deterioration of the relationship in those towns between full and part time residents. Not exactly the basis of a thriving community.

Even with the suggestion about allowing non-residents to vote on budgets, those town meetings could result in contentious events. Let those full-time residents continue to represent us but hear non-residents in a fair and equitable way.

First, everyone would agree that not all full-time or even part time residents can absorb increases their real estate taxes. However, there is a small percentage of full-time residents who cannot absorb these increases and need some tax relief.

I believe that the taxable value of the property in Wellfleet is over $2 billion. This places this small percentage of residents at a significant disadvantage because, although they own their home, their incomes leave little to cover the ever-increasing taxes.

Secondly, if we need to help this group, they need to be defined based on need, not the fact that they are registered voters and may own a home. To be fair, any tax relief that is granted should be based on applying for that relief and demonstrating their personal financial situation to a town committee.

Thirdly, we all can agree if an RTE is enacted in Wellfleet that there will be 70 to 80 percent of the property owners and year around renters who would be negatively impacted. As the article highlighted, it will become corrosive to our community.

The fact is that we truly have a need but who is going to pay for that need in our community? It was recently reported that a state hotel tax of 5.7 percent on rentals of less than 150 days is headed to the governor’s desk.

This bill will also allow towns to add an additional 6 percent. If signed, this would enable the creation of a local funding stream, where those residents needing tax relief would be able to petition annually to the town for a “targeted” property tax exemption.

Unlike an RTE, which picks winner and losers, this type of tax exemption would allow all of the community to be winners. This local tax exemption would be funded entirely by visiting renters, who would normally expect to pay a room tax no matter where they vacation.

This hotel tax would be collected by the owners of these short-term rentals. As far as impact on the owners? When was the last time you booked a room and asked what was the tax? Probably never.

This common-sense approach dispenses with the destructive “they” and “us” and would allow all the Cape towns to thrive as cohesive communities for all property owners not just voters.